The Issue
Last night, Air @@NAME@@ Flight 201 was diverted to an airport in rural Blackacre after being warned of an alleged bomb threat while flying through the hostile country's airspace. Upon landing, waiting Blackacrean police entered the plane and hastily removed two stunned @@DEMONYMADJECTIVE@@ journalists. It has since emerged that the journalists had previously written articles critical of Blackacre’s totalitarian government, and consequently are now in all likelihood being subjected to extreme torture.
1- "It's nothing more than a state-sanctioned hijacking!" sobs the flight's distraught pilot, sipping on a cup of hot cocoa. "I knew that bomb threat was bogus but when I'm in Blackacre's airspace, it's Blackacre's rules. I had no choice but to land! Unless you want this happening again, we need an immediate, total flight ban: none of our planes in their airspace, and no more of theirs in ours either. I bet a strongly-worded letter to @@REGION@@ will even persuade other nations to follow suit!"
Effect: foreign leaders are advising that @@LEADER@@'s letters must have gotten lost in the mail
2- "Flight bans? Letters?" your top military general scoffs sardonically. "Sorry to break it to you, but diplomacy isn't going to bring those journalists home. Everyone knows the first rule of war is to respond to any aggression with the next level of escalation. They kidnapped our citizens? Then we'll bomb their cities!"
Effect: a man in the back saying "everyone attack!" has turned into the Blackacre Blitz
3- Your office phone rings and, surprisingly, the Blackacrean foreign minister is on the other end of the line. "You lot should be thanking us! Those two repugnant terrorists are now off the streets and behind bars, where they belong! Tell you what @@LEADER@@, you publicly declare that the landing of Flight 201 is solely an internal matter for Blackacre, and I'll see to it that the glorious nation of @@NAME@@ gets the best prices on our world-famous, exquisite luxury wristwatches. C’mon, tick-tock!”
Effect: @@LEADER@@ is wrist-deep in dirty deals
4- "I think what the Blackacreans did is genius," shrewdly remarks your new office intern, handing you a bulky folder of freshly printed documents. "This here is a list of every foreign journalist who has dared write a critical piece on your benevolent regime. The ones who have flights booked over @@DEMONYM@@ airspace for the next few months are highlighted, and I've already got the number for air traffic control saved right here on my speed dial. Just say the word; I'll take care of the rest."
Effect: tumbleweeds are seen blowing through the nation's airspace